Our third paper on the chemical origins of life is published in Nature. We show that ferrous iron promotes a one-pot reaction network that resembles the Krebs cycle and amino acid synthesis, starting from just pyruvate and glyoxylate. These enzyme-free reactions could have been a precursor to biological metabolism. Congrats to Kamila and Sreejith! Free read-only version here. Paywall version here. Also, check out the accompanying News & Views article by Robert Pascal here.
Kamila Muchowska
New publication
Kamila and Elodie’s invited account of our recent work on non-enzymatic metabolic pathways has been published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Letters. The special issue is in honor of the 2019 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award to Dr. Raphaël Rodriguez.
Kamila wins best talk award at the Polonium Foundation meeting in Berlin
Congrats to Dr. Kamila Muchowska for winning the People’s Choice award for Best Talk at the Polonium Foundation meeting “Science: Polish Perspectives 2018” in Berlin! Her talk described her recent advances in understanding the origins of biological metabolism. This is Kamila’s second “best talk” award in the part three months.
Kamila wins best talk prize at Franco-Czech Symposium
Congrats to Dr. Kamila Muchowska for winning the EuChemS oral communication prize at the 9th Barrande-Vitava French-Czech meeting! Her talk described her recent advances in understanding the origins of biological metabolism. Way to go, Kamila!
New publication
Our second paper on the chemical origins of life is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. We show that metallic iron powder fixes carbon dioxide as acetate and pyruvate much like the Acetyl CoA pathway, an ancient biological pathway used by microbes to build themselves. It represents a rare “chemistry-up” experiment that connects with the current “biology-down” understanding of early life. Congrats to Sreejith, Kamila and Paul! Free read-only version here. Paywall version here. Also check out the accompanying Behind the Paper post here.
New publication
Our paper on the chemical origins of life is published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. We show that more than half of the reverse Krebs cycle can occur without enzymes. Congrats to Kamila, Sreejith, Elodie, Lucas and Guang for an amazing team effort! A free link to the paper is here. The journal’s paywall version is here. Also check out our Behind the Paper blog post on the journal’s web site here.
